MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cast doubt on Friday (May 23) over the Vatican as a potential location for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, saying that the Holy See itself would find it uncomfortable to host two mainly Orthodox Christian nations.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV had confirmed his willingness to host talks during a phone call with her. The Vatican press office declined to comment further.
Pope Leo, the first US-born pontiff, said soon after his election this month that the Vatican could act as a mediator in global conflicts, without specifically mentioning Russia and Ukraine.
Lavrov, speaking at the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow, on Friday played down the idea of the Vatican as the next venue and the Kremlin said there was not yet any agreement on where a new round of talks would take place.
“Many people are fantasising about when and where it (the meeting) will take place. We don’t have any ideas right now,” said Lavrov.
“But imagine the Vatican as a venue for negotiations. It would be a bit inelegant for Orthodox countries to use a Catholic platform to discuss issues on how to remove the root causes (of the conflict).
“I think it would not be very comfortable for the Vatican itself to host delegations from two Orthodox countries in these circumstances,” Lavrov added.
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators held their first direct talks in more than three years earlier this month in Istanbul.
